Memorial Health System Release

Home Health & Hospice of Dickinson County (HH&H) has covered many miles throughout Dickinson, Morris, and Marion counties for many years. There is no question that the services we provide are greatly needed, and this is especially true in rural counties in Kansas.

HH&H has been a huge supporter of Home & Community Based Services (HCBS) waivers and has participated in the Frail and Elderly (FE) waivers, physically disabled (PD), and Intellectual/Developmental Disability (I/DD) waivers for a number of years. The patients on these HCBS waivers must be eligible for Medicaid. These waivers pay for these Medicaid-approved patients to receive services such as homemaking, errands, personal care assistance, and many other services that allow people to receive long-term care services in their home or community instead of in an institutional setting. In some instances, these waivers are the only thing keeping these people in their homes which is why our agency has taken these patients on when other agencies would not.

Senior Care Act (SCA) is another long-term waiver service that will be discontinued on October 1, 2024. These waivers also help to assist older Kansans with functional limitations in self-care and independence allowing the patient to stay in their home. This waiver is funded by a combination of state and federal funds and the cost to the patient is on a sliding fee scale based on income and assets who functionally qualify.

Home Health & Hospice of Dickinson County is one of the few agencies that have participated in HCBS and SCA waivers to provide the needed services within our community. For smaller agencies such as ours, the challenge to continue providing these services continues to grow increasingly. While it was never about profit for us and more about going the extra mile to take care of the people in our community, our small agency can no longer support the supply and demand of what it takes to provide these services. We have taken a loss for several years and can no longer sustain that loss.

Home Health & Hospice of Dickinson County is not closing. Our local staff is proud to be the only agency in our community that provides the kind of quality care we do to our neighbors, friends, and family, and we will continue to do so. Your health care and community is important to us!

HH&H has been in contact with multiple agencies that can assist patients to locate agencies or individuals who can provide these types of services and they are ready to assist you!

We feel it is important for our community to be aware that if the waiver reimbursement should change substantially to meet the demand, our agency would begin accepting these patients again. We feel it is also important for our community to advocate in any way they can for these waivers by contacting Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services (KDADS). Please do not hesitate to call our agency if you have any further questions or concerns at 785-263-6630.